Strengthening REDD implementation in Indonesia
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 Discussion involving Agus Purnomo, Nur Masripatin, Daniel Murdiyarso, Fitrian Ardiansyah and Pam Minnigh which was moderated by Goenawan Mohamad. Photo by Rifky/CIFOR |
Since the 2007 Climate Change Conference in Bali, related parties in Indonesia have been following up on the conference agenda by examining how new mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) can benefit forests and the communities who depend on them.
To strengthen implementation of these mechanisms for reducing greenhouse gas emissions a new website on REDD in Indonesia was launched on 25 August 2009 in Jakarta. The website; www.redd-indonesia.org, is managed jointly by CIFOR, the Indonesian Environmental Information Centre (PILI Green Network) and WWF Indonesia.
The site is expected to facilitate information dissemination and exchange for REDD project implementers in Indonesia and throughout the world. It contains publications and the latest reports and news stories on REDD schemes in Indonesia and across the world. A periodic e-newsletter on Indonesian REDD will also be published and you can sign up for a free copy at info(at)redd-indonesia.org.
The website also contains global and national government and civil society initiatives as well as relevant regulations. “This website is expected to become a place for information exchange and shared learning for stakeholders at all levels in Indonesia,” said Pam Minnigh, Executive Director of PILI Green Network. Users can interact and talk to experts through a consultation rubric.
A book, ‘Simply REDD’or ‘REDD Apakah itu’ in Indonesian was launched along with the website during discussions on REDD in Indonesia. The ‘Simply REDD’ book, published in Indonesian and English, is a simple guide on the how, and what of REDD, both globally and in Indonesia.
The discussions involved speakers including the Head of the National Climate Change Council Secretariat, Agus Purnomo, Nur Masripatin from the Ministry of Forestry, Daniel Murdiyarso from CIFOR and Fitrian Ardiansyah. The moderator for the discussion was Goenawan Mohamad from Komunitas Salihara. “Many countries are preparing themselves to participate in REDD schemes,” said Daniel Murdiyarso, an Indonesian scientist on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore in 2007.
“Indonesia has great potential in this REDD scheme, but the road to REDD implementation is still a long one. One way is through demonstration activities in which methodologies including carbon emissions calculations, monitoring and verification are studied. Indonesia has several places for demonstration activities,” added Daniel.
“Current understanding of REDD is minimal. We need to understand the REDD mechanism as a climate change fund, not as a wage paid because Indonesia has vast expanses of forest. Extensive forest without the capacity to maintain that forest as a climate balance and carbon store will result in nothing. In other words, Indonesia gets money because it is able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Agus Purnomo, Head of the National Climate Change Council Secretariat.
In the regions, REDD as climate funding carries consequences for regional data collection. So, increasing private sector and regional government understanding and capacity is essential as reluctance to take part will leave REDD projects falling far short of expectations. “To preserve forests in the regions,” continued Agus, “regional governments should not just accept invitations or memoranda of understanding (MoU) with anyone. Don’t surrender forest control rights to others,” said Agus as quoted by Kompas.
Indonesia was the first country to develop a specific regulation on REDD. The regulation (Permenhut) issued by the Minister of Forestry allows customary communities, local authorities, private organisations and businesses, both local and foreign, to run REDD (demonstration) projects. According to the regulation, REDD projects are only granted to people or groups of people that own letters of ownership over the forest.
“The government is striving for local communities and project implementers in REDD schemes to secure greater shares of profits than the government,” promised Nur Masripatin from the Ministry of Forestry, “Equitable profit sharing through REDD will ensure project sustainability and maintain control of carbon dioxide emissions.”
The Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) are currently drafting a policy on profit sharing from REDD. “We hope this be finalised before the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this coming December,” added Nur Masripatin.
